11/11/2008
Algerian Interior Minister Nourredine Yazid Zerhouni on Monday (November 10th) refuted remarks made by King Mohammed VI regarding Western Sahara that Algeria is attempting to "balkanize the Maghreb", local press reported. In a speech last Thursday to mark the 33rd anniversary of the "Green March", the Moroccan ruler also criticised Algeria for the country's "obstinate refusal" to normalise its relations with Morocco and re-open the land border closed in 1994. "We have always dreamed of building an Arab Maghreb and have long pursued this ideal," Zerhouni told reporters. The "real question", he added, is which kind of Maghreb will be built.